BPA Used in Plastic Bottles Causes Male Turtles to Act Like Female

CBS: Scientists are trying to understand how a chemical used in many common consumer products -- think water bottles or food containers -- could be having a strange effect on turtles: making male turtles​ act more like females. The research team from the University of Missouri previously found evidence that Bisphenol A (BPA)​, which finds its way in many rivers and streams, could alter sexual function in turtles, with males even developing female sex organs.

Just the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to be shocked google Atrazine. This chemical that has been banned in the EU for over a decade, is sprayed on just about every cornfield in the United States and has been since the 1960s. It is also used on lawns and golf courses. It can turn male tadpoles placed in water contaminated with it into female frogs.

I recently watched a documentary on National Geographic about how much plastic waste ends up in our oceans and seas. This includes plastic beads that are used in exfoliating face and body wash. Manufacturers are now opting for more natural exfoliators such as crushed nut shells. But it is a little too late.

The little bit of information they forgot to add is that sex is pretty fluid in turtles and other herptiles. It's not set in stone by the chromosomes, as it is for mammals. All kinds of external things, like temperature and nutrition,control whether a turtle develops into a male or female.